Mail clip



June 2, 1970 M. B. BORNUS 3,515,337

NAIL CLIP I Filed June 24, 1968 INVISN'IUR.

Meyora' B. Bar/10s United States Patent Office 3,515,337 Patented June 2, 1970 3,515,337 MAIL CLIP Melford B. Bornus, RR. 5, Montevideo, Minn. 56265 Filed June 24, 1968, Ser. No. 739,461 Int. Cl. A47g 29/12 US. Cl. 232-33 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spring steel device for rural-type mailboxes having a plate which is indented in order to have the mail received within the device and will extend outwards so that it may be readily grasped and taken from the device.

This invention relates to rural mail box accessories and more particularly to mail clips.

-It is therefore the main purpose of this invention to provide a mail clip which will have an elongated spring steel portion which will render the device stationary within the mailbox in order that it may receive clampin gly letters.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mail clip which will have a rectangular plate secured to it that will have a raised portion near one end to urge the letters at one end away from the plate of the clip in order that they may be readily grasped in the hands of those using said device.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a mail clip which is simple in design inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use and efficient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily apparent upon a study of the following specification together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a mailbox shown partly broken away with the instant invention shown installed therein:

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the lower extremity of the invention.

According to this invention, a mail clip is provided with an elongated leaf spring 11 for a purpose which hereinafter will be described. Mail clip '10 is provided with a rectangular plate 12 which is secured by suitable means to leaf spring 11 near one end. Leaf spring 11 is bent at one end to form a tip 13 which springingly engages plate -12 when letters 14 are placed within mail clip 10 they are urged against plate 12 by means of tip 13. Plate 12 is provided with a raised portion 15 which serves to bend the letters 14 towards the interior of the mailbox. The elongated leaf spring 11 springingly engages the arched contour 11 of mailbox 17 and thus renders the mail clip 10 stationary within mailbox 17.

It is to be noted that the raised portion 15 causes the letter 14 to be bent at one end towards the center of mailbox 17 in order that the mail man. may easily grasp and remove them from mail clip 10.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it is understood that such changes will be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as they are described in the appended claim.

What -I now claim is:

1. A mail clip for rural mailboxes, comprising in combination a rectangular plate, an elongated leaf spring carried by said plate, providing a means for rendering said clip stationary within a rural mailbox, and clip means for securing letters to said device, said rectangular plate being secured along its transverse center within a U-shaped clip portion of said leaf spring, and said clip portion providing a means for springingly grasping and rendering stationary letters against said plate of said device, said extended end of said leaf spring portion of said device providing means for rendering said mail clip stationary within the interior of said mailbox by springingly engaging the contour of the arched portion of the interior of said mailbox, said plate being secured to said leaf spring member by suitable fastening means, said plate being provided with a raised portion near the front end of said mailbox to which said device is installed, and said raised portion providing a means for bending the ends of said letters grasped by said clip toward the center of said mailbox in order that said letters may be easily grasped and removed from said clip..

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 684,439 10/ 1901 Kyle 232-33 901,069 10/ 1908 Chelson et al. 211-184 1,050,252 1/1913 Thorson 232-33 1,061,785 5/1913 Shinn 232-33 2,045,594 6/ 1936 Habel 248-205 2,504,986 4/ 1950 Kost. 2,650,756 9/ 1953 Rubesch 232-33 3,052,362 9/1962 Bischoif 211-86 3,268,722 8/ 1966 Nolan.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner 

